Spring actuated projectile apparatus including target pockets

ABSTRACT

A spring actuated toy in which marbles or similar objects can be viewed as they are individually projected toward designated targets by the snap action of a cricket-type spring. The spring underlies a base having a centrally located opening in which one marble is contained and rests freely on the snap action portion of the spring. Manual cocking of the spring ejects the marble toward the target and means are provided to concomitantly register the flexure of the spring to indicate the number of attempts made to successfully place the marble on target.

United States Patent 1191 Stubbmann 1111 3,764,142 14 1 Oct. 9, 1973[54] SPRING ACTUATED PROJECTILE APPARATUS INCLUDING TARGET POCKETSInventor: Albert Stubbmann, Franklin Lakes,

[73 Assignee: Kohner Bros., Inc., East Paterson,

[22] Filed: Dec. 29, 1971 [21] Appl. No.: 213,259

[52] US. Cl 273/101, 124/16, 273/D1G. 26 [51] Int. Cl A631) 71/04 [58]Field of Search 273/ R, 101, 102.1 R,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS Pierman 273/101 Peterson273/101 Stubbmann 273/ CA 2/1956 Sweet Primary Examiner-Richard C.Pinkham Assistant Examiner-Marvin Siskind Attorney-Howard J. Newby eta1.

[57] ABSTRACT A spring actuated toy in which marbles or similar objectscan be viewed as they are individually projected toward designatedtargets by the snap action of a cricket-type spring. The springunderlies a base having a centrally located opening in which one marbleis contained and rests freely on the snap action portion of the spring.Manual cocking of the spring ejects the marble toward the target andmeans are provided to concomitantly register the flexure of the springto indicate the number of attempts made to successfully place the marbleon target.

14 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures PATENTED 9'973 3.764.142

SHEET MP 3 INVENTOR Albert Srubbmcmn AGENT PATENTED 9W5 3.764.142

SHEET 2 or 3 INVENTOR Alberr S'rubbmann AGENT PATENTEDUBI elm I3.164.142

SHEET 30F 3 34 36 INVENTOR Albert Srubbmonn AGENT SPRING ACTUATED'PROJECTILE APPARATUS INCLUDING TARGET POCKETS FIELD OF THE INVENTIONThis invention relates generally to a game of skill and, in particular,is directedto a spring actuated device wherein marbles or'similar sizedobjects are propelled within a transparent, hollow hemisphere atsuitable targets.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION spondingly identified target.

It is still another object of the invention to provide a skill gamewherein projectiles are contained within .a transparent dome.

It is yet another object of 'the invention to provide a skill gamewherein the course of travel of a marble or similar object can. beviewed after the marble is aimed and propelled toward a selected targetin order to determine the accuracy of the manually controlled attempt tocorrectly project the object.

It is a further object 'of the invention to provide a skill gamewhereinthe flight path or progression of a marble or similar objectpropelled by a spring can be manually altered. I

It is a feature of the inventive skill game to have provisions forautomatically monitoring and visibly registering each attempt to propela marble or similarobject to come to rest at its designated target.

Briefly, according to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the gameis in the form of a transparent hollow hemispherical dome mounted aboveand enclosing a concave circular disc having mounted thereon upstandingcups. A centrally located leaf spring is positioned beneath theunderside of the disc to receive on '.its flat span one marble (ofseveral) at a time through acentrally located opening in the disc.Manually actuated means, secured to the bottom of the platform, are

- parts which will be exemplified in the device hereinafter described indetail and of which the scope of application will be indicated in theappended claims; it being understood that changes in the preciseembodiments of the invention herein disclosed may be made within thescope of what is claimed without departing from the spirit of theinvention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In the accompanying drawing in whichis shown one of the various possible embodiments of the invention:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the spring actuated toy in accordancewith one embodiment of the invention showing the projectable marbles atrest on their respective target platforms;

2 I FIG. 2 is a top plan view;.

FIG. 3 is a side elevational view;

FIG. 4 is a vertical sectional view taken along the line 44 of FIG. 2including a sectional view of the dome enclosure. The figure illustratesa step in the operation of the toy and shows, by dot and dash lines, theconfiguration of the spring, and the trajectory of the marble at thetime the marble is projected toward its target and the flexing of thespring registered on the indicator;

FIG. 5 is a top full sectional view of the toy taken along a linelocated as shown by line 5-5 of FIG. 4 particularly illustrating in planview the projected configuration of the spring and its location in thetoy.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED I EMBODIMENTS The invention generallycomprises a large transparent plastic hemispherically shaped domemounted atop and enclosing a bowl-shaped container the base of thebowl-shaped container is concave downwardly in configuration. Severalupstanding cups (targets) are secured to the base in spatialrelationship to each other.

- era] marbles or objects of other shapes, such as cubes,

rings, or miniature footballs which normally rest on the base below thecups or other targets. The concave base has a central opening into whichone of the objects is caused to roll or slide by gravity. The opening inthe base is not large enough to admit more than one object at a time. Acylindrical sleeve integrally depends from a casing which surrounds thebowl-shaped container. A cylindrical piston, closed at its bottom end,is slidably received inside the sleeve and is mounted so that it canvertically reciprocate therein. The closed bottom of the piston normallyprojects below the lower edge of the sleeve. The rim, defining the opentop end of the cylindrical piston, contacts the flat span of ahorizontally positioned leaf (cricket) spring. The spring is movable bysnap action between two positions. The central snap action portion ofthe flat span of the leaf spring 'is directly below'the opening of thebase to receive and support the marble or similar object. At rest, thecenter portion of the horizontal span of the leaf spring which vreceivesthe marble is downwardly bowed. The spring is flexed by an upwardmovement of the piston relative to the sleeve against the flat span ofthe spring. As the rim of the upper, open end of the cylindrical pistonis forced against the spring, the downwardly bowed center portion of thespan of the spring is caused to snap into an upwardly bowed position. Asthe spring snaps into the upwardly bowed position, it thrusts themarbleor other projectile upwardly within the hollow hemis phericallydome in an arc shaped trajectory toward the target i.e., upstanding cup,basket, hook, etc. Each time the leaf spring is flexed, there is alsoactuated a mechanism which registers the number of repetitive attemptsto successfully position the projectiles on the ber 18. The dome l2 andthe bowl-shaped member 18 define a sufficiently large internal cavityfor the projectiles 14 to be flipped towards the upstanding cupshapedtargets 16 secured to the base 20 of the bowl 18. The bottom or base 20of the bowl is in the shape of a slightly concave disc having acentrally located opening 22. The opening 22 in the base 20 is onlylarge enough to admit one marble or other projectile 14 at a time. Themarble to be propelled toward the target 16 is caused to roll by gravityon the concave disc and be received by the central opening in the disc.

The bowl-shaped member 18 is disposed snugly within an outer circularcasing 24 and is positioned and secured against rotary motion by twovertically projecting pins 44 formed integral with the casing whichprojects through corresponding openings 46 in the base of the bowlmember. The casing has a wall 26 which contacts and surrounds the wallof the bowl and which extends upwardly and terminates in a flange 28which registers with the flange 30 of the hemispherically dome to formsurfaces for sealing the dome to the casing and confining the bowltherein.

Depending integral with the casing 24 is a cylindrical sleeve 32 whichslidably receives a piston 34. The lower end 36 of the said 34 is closedand the rim 38 defining the open upper end of the cylindrical pistoncontacts the leaf spring 40. The piston 34 is constructed with aradially outward extending collar 48 affixed to and encircling thepiston. The collar 48 cooperates with a shoulder 50 on the casing to actas a stop to prevent the piston from completely separating from thesleeve. However, it is formed at a location vertically on the wall ofthe piston to permit adequate vertical motion of the piston to flex thespring and permit the spring to return to an unflexed configuration.

A leaf (cricket) spring 40 stands freely on the upper rim 38 of thepiston 34 and is located centrally beneath the bowl shaped member 18.The cricket spring is'held in its central location by four lugs 42formed integral with the casing and which project upwardly. The

cricket spring is formed from flat sheet metal resilient stock and has arectangular-in-plan configuration. More specifically, the cricket springis all of one piece and includes two opposed upwardly and outwardlydiverging like legs 52, 54 each of which extends from a line of angularbend 53 and terminates in a small outwardly, protruding substantiallyhorizontal foot 56 which rests against the under surface of thebowlshaped member 18. Except for orientation, the spring is very similarto that disclosed in US. Pat. No. 3,356,369.

The span 58 of the cricket spring substantially closes the open end ofthe piston 34. The piston is vertically centered beneath the span of thecricket spring.

The span 58 has centered thereon and integral therewith a downwardlyconcave shallow circular depression 60 that is smaller in diameter thanthe span dimensions. On opposed sides of the depression and spacedtherefrom are two outwardly diverging triangular shallow crowns 62. Thespan 58, depression 60, and crowns 62 jointly constitute the snap actionposition of the spring. When the span of the spring is urged upwardly bythe upward movement of the piston relative to the sleeve, it is thecentrally located concave portion of the spring supporting the marble inthe centrally located opening in the base of the bowl which snaps orpops into a convex position and, in so doing, thrusts the overlyingmarble as a projectile toward the target.

A small rectangular vertical post 64 having a circular flat base 66integral therewith rests on the span of the spring proximate one cornerthereof. The post projects through an opening in the base of a U-shapedframe 68 on which is rotatably mounted a spur gear 70 affixed to a wheel72. The upper end of the post is in contact with one of the teeth of thespur gear. The frame 68 is suitably secured to the base 20 and iscontained in a casing 76 formed in said base.

In the idle position of the inventive toy, the cricket spring isdepressed with the marble or other projectile freely non-constrainedlylying on the central circular depression of the span. The idle positionof the toy is shown in FIG. 4 with the closed end of the pistonprojecting below the lower edge of the sleeve.

The toy is actuated by an upward thrust of the flat surface of thebottom of the piston by the fingers of the player as the entire toy isheld in both hands. Alternatively, the toy can be actuated by placing iton a flat support and, with the palm of the hand on dome, pressingthetoy downwardly against the surface supporting the bottom of the piston.The sleeve guides the piston in its upward movement and as the pistonmoves upwardly, the rim of the piston transmits to the cricket springthe upward force applied to the piston.

Said upward force indicated by the arrow A in FIG. 4 flexes the cricketspring from its idle position to a position shown by the dot and dashedlines of FIG. 4 wherein the legs 52 and 54 have slid on the undersurfaceof the base 20 of the bowl and spread further apart and the outwardrotation of the legs has exerted torque couples on both sides of thespan 58 so that the span begins to bow upwardly. When the cricket springis stressed, so that its legs start to spread outwardly and its spanbowed upwardly to a certain extent, the depression 60 on the span,initially downwardly concave or indented in a direction opposite to thedirection A of initial movement of the spring, snaps, i.e., rapidlymoves in said direction A of initial movement and thereupon reverses itsconfiguration to flowingly merge into the upwardly bowed configurationof the span (dot, dash line of FIG. 4). When the central portion of thespan is curved upwardly so as to merge into the bowed configuration ofthe remainder of the span, the triangular crowns 62 also substantiallymerge into the same configuration and a further stress is imposedthereon which is concentrated at the apices of the crowns adjacent theupwardly bowed center portion of the span.

The rapid upward movement of the indented central portion of the spanthrows the marble resting thereon upwardly but containedly within thedome and bowl toward the target 16.

By slightly tilting the toy, the direction of the flight of the marblecan be controlled to some degree and,

hopefully, it can be cau'sed to fall and come to rest on p the target.The path of the marble during its movement toward the targetcan beobserved through the transparent dome and suitable adjustment made inthe angle at which the toy is tilted for each attempt to project themarble onto its target.

As the span of the spring is bowed upwardly to cause the central portionto snap into a convex configuration, the bowed span forces the postupwardly at a slight angle against the tooth of the span gear (as shownby the dot and dashed line of FIG. 4) and causes the gear to'rotate anddrive the wheel through an increment of rotation. Located on the face ofthe wheel are indicia which are individually observed through the window74 of the housing 76 enclosing and containing the gear, wheel and frame.The indicia show the number of the attempt (or success) of placing themarble-on target.

When the fingers at the base of the piston are relaxed, the internalstresses at the apecis of the crowns in the span are sufficient totrigger the cocked central portion of the span for snapping downwardmotion. That is to say, the central portion of the span is triggeredinto sudden return movement and is thereby rapidly thrust in thedirection B of return movement of the prised of a rotatable wheel havingindicia which may be observed through a small window in the topmost partof the outer casing 76 for the scoring device. Each increment ofmovement of the rotatable wheel of the scoring device registers asucceeding number to be observed through the window.

The skill game device as shown in the drawings is representative and hasbeendescribed and illustrated as a v, skill game for projecting marblesonto upstanding cupshaped targets. As will be readily recognized bythose skilled in the art, many modifications of the devices are possibleand yet within the spirit of the invention. For example, baskets orbrackets mounted on the side wall of the hemispherical dome can besubstituted for the upstanding cups and marbles simulating the design ofbasketballs can be employed. Alternatively, two baskets diametricallyopposed representing the baskets at two ends of a basketball court maybe employed and one marble used for two or more players to play a simulated game of basketball. Similarly, the baskets can be replaced withsmall simulated football goal posts and in place of the marbles, afootball may be used as the projectile.

It is also conceivable that the cup-shaped upstanding platforms as shownmay be constructed so'as to have different heights above the disc andthus make the game more difficult when playing with marble projectiles.Alternatively, the marbles may .each be weighted off-center so as not toroll uniformly and thus make it even more difficult to correctly land orcome to rest on the target.

Additionally, various color schemes and several more targets may beemployed in order that a specific projectile be directed toward acorrespondingly colored specific target.

It will thus be seen that a device has been provided I What is claimedand desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

l. A spring actuated toy for projecting objects onto targets comprising;

a. a casing having an integral sleeve depending therefrom; v

b. a piston slidably receivable in said sleeve, the

lower end of said piston projecting below the bottom edge of the sleeveand the upper end of said piston disposed within the interior of thecasing;

c. a bowl-shaped member snugly fitted withinsaid casing, saidbowl-shaped member having a slightly concave base, said base having acentrally located opening sufficiently large to receive only one objectat a time; t

d. a leaf spring including a rectangular, broad, substantially flat snapacting span resting on the upper end of the piston and located beneaththe central opening of the base and formed with two opposed upwardlydiverging legs in one piece extending from opposite edges of the span,the 'upper ends of said legs being in slidable contact with theundersurface of the base whereby when the span is pressed upwardly, byan upward movement of the piston, the upper ends of the legs are spreadapart and cause the span to bow upwardly in a snap action, saidsnap-acting span being constructed to snap upwardly when the span bowsupwardly and to-snap downwardly when upward pressure on the span isremoved from the span;

e. a projectableobject adapted to freely rest on the snap-acting span ofthe leaf spring and to be propelled upwardly by the snap action of saidspring; f. a transparent enclosure sufficiently large to permit anobject to be projected by the upward snap of the snap-acting portion ofthe spring; and g. at least one fixed target mounted within the areadefined by said enclosure and said bowl and constituting a directionalobjective for the flight of an object propelled by said spring. 2. Thespring actuated toy of claim 1 further includ ing means for registeringeach flexing of the leaf spring comprising:

a. a vertical post having an integral flat base, said base restingfreely on the span of the spring;

b. a' wheel having indicia affixed to the rim thereof, I

I said wheel rigidly affixed to a spur gear and coaxially rotatablymounted therewith above the post and positioned to effect contact of onetooth of the spur gear with the upper end of the post; and

l c. a housing enclosing the wheel, spur gear and upper portion of thepost and having a window whereby ton is a cylindrical piston having aclosed lower end and an open upper end.

4. The spring actuated toy according to claim 1 wherein the enclosure isa dome-shaped enclosure.

5. The spring actuated toy according to claim 1 wherein the spring spanhas integral therewith a snapacting portion.

6. The spring actuated toy according to claim wherein the snap-actingportion includes a downwardly concave depression located centrally ofthe span.

7. The spring actuated toy according to claim 6 ing a plurality ofobjects color related to a plurality of targets.

11. The spring actuated toy according to claim 1 wherein the target isan upstanding cup secured to the base of the bowl-shaped member.

12. The spring actuated toy according to claim I having a plurality ofupstanding cup-shaped targets secured to the base of the bowl-shapedmember.

13. The spring actuated toy according to claim 1 wherein the projectableobject is a sphere.

14. The spring actuated toy according to claim 1 wherein the projectableobject is an off-center weighted sphere.

1. A spring actuated toy for projecting objects onto targets comprising:a. a casing having an integral sleeve depending therefrom; b. a pistonslidably receivable in said sleeve, the lower end of said pistonprojecting below the bottom edge of the sleeve and the upper end of saidpiston disposed within the interior of the casing; c. a bowl-shapedmember snugly fitted within said casing, said bowl-shaped member havinga slightly concave base, said base having a centrally located openingsufficiently large to receive only one object at a time; d. a leafspring including a rectangular, broad, substantially flat snap actingspan resting on the upper end of the piston and located beneath thecentral opening of the base and formed with two opposed upwardlydiverging legs in one piece extending from opposite edges of the span,the upper ends of said legs being in slidable contact with theundersurface of the base whereby when the span is pressed upwardly, byan upward movement of the piston, the upper ends of the legs are spreadapart and cause the span to bow upwardly in a snap action, saidsnap-acting span being constructed to snap upwardly when the span bowsupwardly and to snap downwardly when upward pressure on the span isremoved from the span; e. a projectable object adapted to freely rest onthe snapacting span of the leaf spring and to be propelled upwardly bythe snap action of said spring; f. a transparent enclosure sufficientlylarge to permit an object to be projected by the upward snap of thesnap-acting portion of the spring; and g. at least one fixed targetmounted within the area defined by said enclosure and said bowl andconstituting a directional objective for the flight of an objectpropelled by said spring.
 2. The spring actuated toy of claim 1 furtherincluding means for registering each flexing of the leaf springcomprising: a. a vertical post having an integral flat base, said baseresting freely on the span of the spring; b. a wheel having indiciaaffixed to the rim thereof, said wheel rigidly affixed to a spur gearand coaxially rotatably mounted therewith above the post and positionedto effect contact of one tooth of the spur gear with the upper end ofthe post; and c. a housing enclosing the wheel, spur gear and upperportion of the post and having a window whereby a portion of the indiciaon the wheel is exposed each time the gear and wheel is turned by thesubstantially vertical upward movement of the post when the span of thespring is bowed upwardly.
 3. The spring actuated toy according to claim1 wherein said sleeve integral with the casing and depending therefromis a cylindrical sleeve and said piston is a cylindrical piston having aclosed lower end and an open upper end.
 4. The spring actuated toyaccording to claim 1 wherein the enclosure is a dome-shaped enclosure.5. The spring actuated toy according to claim 1 wherein the spring spanhas integral therewith a snap-acting portion.
 6. The spring actuated toyaccording to claim 5 wherein the snap-acting portion includes adownwardly concave depression located centrally of the span.
 7. Thespring actuated toy according to claim 6 wherein the snap-acting portionfurther includes two triangular crowns in the edges of the span andlocated on opposed sides of the concave depression, the bases of thetriangles being at the edges of the span perpendicular to the legs ofthe span.
 8. The spring actuated toy according to claim 1 having aplurality of spatially related targets mounted within the area definedby the enclosure and bowl.
 9. The spring actuated toy according to claim1 having a plurality of projectable objects.
 10. The spring actuated toyaccording to claim 1 having a plurality of objects color related to aplurality of targets.
 11. The spring actuated toy according to claim 1wherein the target is an upstanding cup secured to the base of thebowl-shaped member.
 12. The spring actuated toy according to claim 1having a plurality of upstanding cup-shaped targets secured to the baseof the bowl-shaped member.
 13. The spring actuated toy according toclaim 1 wherein the projectable object is a sphere.
 14. The springactuated toy according to claim 1 wherein the projectable object is anoff-center weighted sphere.